Status: 22.09.2022 5:55 p.m
In 2020, the Federal Constitutional Court declared help with suicide to be permissible. Since then, the legislature has been trying to live up to the verdict. The Ethics Council has now commented on this – without evaluating bills.
In the debate about legal regulation of suicide assistance, the German Ethics Council emphasized the importance of free decision-making. In a statement presented in Berlin, the 24-strong panel of experts urges the legislature to carefully weigh up the criteria for this form of euthanasia.
“Assistance may only be provided for a voluntary suicide,” said Ethics Council Chairwoman Alena Buyx. It is therefore crucial to clarify the prerequisites for such a free decision, added law professor Helmut Frister. This examination sets the course for whether the right to self-determination or the protection of life has priority.
At the same time, the Ethics Council warns against overloading such a procedure. The requirements for the test should not lead to them de facto taking away the right to self-determined dying, it said.
Ethics Council does not favor any bill
In February 2020, the Federal Constitutional Court declared assisted suicide to be permissible. Since then, the legislature has been struggling to come up with a regulation that rules out abuse. He is now getting tips from the Ethics Council. However, the experts are not making any concrete recommendations for or against any of the draft laws already in the Bundestag.
Three groups with MPs from different parliamentary groups have submitted proposals that go to different lengths, for example with regard to the question of examination and the obligation to provide advice in the event of a suicidal wish. In its 134-page opinion, the Ethics Council avoids evaluating the existing draft laws, which have already been discussed in Parliament in the first reading.
Society shouldn’t be indifferent to suicide
The Ethics Council emphasized that autonomous decisions to commit suicide should be fully respected. At the same time, the panel calls for more efforts in the field of suicide prevention. Frister emphasized that the state must ensure that people do not get into situations in which they prefer death to life as the supposedly lesser evil.
It should also be noted that suicides never only affect the person in question, but also those around them. Respect for voluntary suicide should not lead to society being indifferent to suicide. More than 9,000 people took their own lives in 2021.
Suicide assistance only for adults?
The Ethics Council did not agree on individual issues. Frister explained that there was a dissent as to whether only adults could claim suicide assistance, whether a previously determined wish to commit suicide in the event of an illness impairing free will had to be complied with and how far the obligation to provide information should go.
Clarification mandatory
However, there was consensus that he had to provide clarification. Those affected should be aware of all the aspects that are important for the decision. The Council also agrees that a mental illness does not fundamentally exclude the right to help with suicide.
Help with suicidal thoughts
If you are having suicidal thoughts, please seek help immediately. With the anonymous telephone counseling service you will find contact persons around the clock.
Telephone numbers of the telephone counseling service: 0800/111 0 111 and 0800/111 0 222 www.telefonseelsorge.de
Telephone advice for children and young people: 116 111 – www.nummergegenkummer.de